Whether the respondent could be held guilty of smuggling gold even though he had no intention to do it?
A person may be convicted of an offence independently of any wrongful intent and such offences are termed as offences of Strict Liability. It will be no defence to an accused that he had honestly believed, in good faith in the existence of facts which would have rendered his conduct innocent.
Whether under Section 7 of the Act, a factual non-compliance of the Order by a dealer will amount to an offence thereunder, even if there is no mens rea on his part?
An intention to offend the penal provisions of a statute is normally implicit, however, comprehensive or unqualified the language of the statute may appear to be, unless an intention to the contrary is expressed or clearly implied, for the general rule is that a crime is not committed unless the contravener has mens rea.